EUSBSR and experimental governance

Macro-regional strategies can be seen as an innovative way of organising policy-making and regional cooperation. The four current strategies address specific challenges and opportunities in a certain geographical area, and promote mutual learning processes through ‘experimenting’. The processes of macro-regions result often in new governance architechture, thus studying them from the perspective of experimental governance can help us to understand better the development of Strategies, and how they change regions.

Soft space is characterised by "informality, variability and flexibility of the institutional structures, different thematic and stakeholders’ involvement". However, in the long run, soft space may transform into a more stable and permanent structures, and change the already existing institutions.

The article highlights some examples of the changes brought by macro-regional strategies. One example of the change (and importance of Flagships!) is the Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum, an EUSBSR Flagship that has become a permanent fisheries forum, and part of the region's cooperation.